St James the Great, Petts Wood, is a parish of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Southwark. Its area covers the Greater London Boroughs south of the Thames, the County of Kent and the Medway Unitary Authority.

The chief minister of the Archdiocese is the Archbishop of Southwark – the Most Reverend Peter Smith – who lives in Archbishop’s House, St George’s Road (next to our cathedral and close to the Elephant & Castle).

Because the archdiocese is so large, the archbishop has three auxiliary bishops to help him, each one having a specific geographical area:

• Our auxiliary bishop is the Right Reverend Patrick Lynch SS.CC., who has the responsibility for the south east area. Bishop Pat lives in Blackheath.

• The Right Reverend Paul Hendricks is responsible for the south western area.

• The Right Reverend John Hine is responsible for Kent.

We are also part of the Bromley Deanery. A deanery is a grouping of all the Catholic parishes within a geographical area, such as a borough. In our case there are 13 parishes within the London Borough of Bromley. Within a deanery, parishes try to cooperate with each other, give mutual support and share good practice. Each deanery is lead by a dean, appointed by the Archbishop for a period of three years. The present dean is Canon Tom McHugh, Parish Priest of St Joseph's, Bromley.